TOW the Good Lie
by starvingstudent
Summary: Two years after the finale, Monica gets news that makes her realize Chandler has lied to her, but was it to protect her? Major MC.


AN: Hey, so I have had this idea for a while and finally sat down and actually wrote the thing. Let me know what you think.

SUMMARY: Monica gets some news that points to Chandler having lied to her. Set when Jack and Erika are two.

DISCAIMER: I own nothing.

"Hey," Monica called out as she stepped in the front door, being careful to bang the snow off of her boots on the porch.

"Hey, we're in the kitchen," Chandler's voice called out.

Monica quickly slipped off her boots and hung her coat neatly in the closet. As she entered the kitchen she smiled as she caught sight of the three most important people in the world to her. Her husband sat at the table, a small child on either side of him, dinner in front of all three of them. At two, Jack and Erica were quite capable of feeding themselves, but their father always made sure to be in the middle to prevent possible problems.

Chandler smiled warmly at her as she walked around to their side of the table, placing a kiss on the top of each head she walked by. "Your dinner's in the over keeping warm," Chandler said, as he expertly intercepted his son's wobbling cup right before it took the plunge right off the table.

Monica smiled at this action. She had always known he would make a good father. "Thanks honey."

"So," she said as she joined her family at the table. "I left you three in this exact spot this morning, have you done anything away from the table all day?"

Chandler, after having put in quite a few extra hours over the past two weeks had been given the day off. He laughed. "Nope, we finished our breakfast this morning, moved right on to lunch and now dinner. We haven't left the table, right?" He turned an expectant glance to Erika, as if she would back him up. She smiled up at her father before reaching for another chicken nugget from her plate. His son was no help either, as he simply laughed, giggling even harder when Chandler reached over to lightly poke him in the side. "Fine, leave me hanging." Chandler feigned hurt, this time earning himself a smile from his wife.

"So, what did you actually do today?"

"Well, we were going to go to the park, but we got half way there and realized it was too cold, so we came back. The weather man was way off his mark today." Chandler paused, pretending not to notice his wife laughing at him.

"I told you it was cold this morning."

Yes, but Mon, the weatherman is an expert in the field of temperature reading. I thought it was safe to take his word over yours. However, after recent incidence, he has lost my trust."

Monica rolled her eyes. "I'm telling you, Chandler, the sooner you realize that I'm always right, the happier you'll be."

Chandler laughed at this, shaking his head. Some things never change. "Anyway," he continued his story, "we got home and tried to watch Land Before Time twenty-one, but Erika wanted to play Barbies, so we did that for a while. Then our Barbie town got attacked by a herd of dinosaurs, and I remembered why we try not to play these movies." Although every child the six of them had had been given dinosaur paraphernalia from Ross at every chance he got, Jack was the only one so far who had taken any interest, despite his parents wishes. He very often "attacked" his sister's toys.

Monica smiled. "Sounds like a fun day."

Chandler nodded. "Oh, it was s hoot."

Even though he was acting disappointed, Monica knew it was really just an act. He had probably had a great day. Chandler absolutely loved spending time with his children, and jumped at any chance he got to spend the day with them.

Monica smiled contentedly and enjoyed a moment of silence with her family. Her thoughts drifted back to the news she had gotten earlier that day. News that had two connotations attached to it, one of which led to the inevitable fact that her husband had lied to her. Monica pushed the thought from her head, knowing there would be plenty of time to talk about it later, after the kids had been put to bed.

"You okay?" Chandler asked, unable to read the expression on his wife's face.

Monica was jolted out of her thoughts, and forced a neutral expression as she turned to meet Chandler's gaze. She nodded. "Yup."

Chandler narrowed his eyes. "Really?"

Monica exhaled, knowing he didn't believe her, but wouldn't push in front of Jack and Erika. "I got some news today. We'll talk later."

Chandler was taken aback by his wife's behavior. He had been able to tell something was bothering her, but her last words had thrown his off. It was as if he had done something wrong, but there was nothing he could think of. Monica's expression stopped him from asking any other questions.

After dinner was finished they worked together to get the kitchen cleaned up and the twins to bed. They had a routine down the get both kids bathed, dressed and ready for bed that they had perfected. When both kids were fast asleep, Chandler made his was down the stairs, to meet his wife in the kitchen. She had just poured two cups of coffee, one of which she silently handed to him and motioned for him to follow her into the living room.

Monica sat down on the couch and Chandler hesitated before taking a seat on the chair across from the couch, not sure if his wife wanted him beside her or not. "So," he began, not having any idea what was coming.

Monica sighed, wrapping both hands around her coffee mug, taking comfort in the warmth. She didn't know quite how to bring up the topic. "I went to the doctor today."

"Is everything okay?" Chandler asked, immediately concerned.

Monica nodded. "Yeah, everything's fine. It was just a follow-up from my physical last week."

Chandler exhaled a sigh of relief. "Then I don't understand..."

"While I was there, my doctor told me something very interesting. She pulled up the results that the fertility place sent her-"

Chandler inhaled as he realized exactly where she was going with this.

"-And apparently the news you gave me wasn't entirely accurate." Monica remained silent, waiting for Chandler to speak.

Chandler put his coffee down, careful to put it on a coaster, and covered his face with his hands. He had no idea what to say. He hadn't expected her to ever find out. It was the only lie he had ever told her.

"Well," Monica prompted gently.

"I don't know what to say."

"Well, think of something."

"I never meant for you to find out."

"What? That's what you have to say for yourself? Not, I was wrong? Not, I'm sorry?"

Chandler jumped up and came around to sit on the coffee table, face to face with his wife. He gently pulled the mug out of her grasp, and took her hands. "I don't think I'm wrong, Mon. I'm sorry I lied to you, but I never regretted it."

"How can you say that?" Monica pulled her hands out of his grip. "You had no right to do that! I feel like an idiot. Everyone must think I'm so stupid to believe you." Her voice wavered as she trailed off.

Chandler shook his head. "No one thinks you're stupid. I never told anyone the truth. They all think the same thing you did." He felt his heart tug as he saw tears well in her eyes. He tentatively reached for her hands, which she allowed him to hold, but didn't hold back.

She looked up at him, eyes watery; an almost-defeated expression on her face. "Why?" She asked softly.

Chandler squeezed her hands, trying to comfort her. "Because it didn't matter to me what the problem was. The only thing that mattered was that _together_ we couldn't have children. I didn't want you to blame yourself."

"And if the results had been the opposite, would you have told me the same thing?"

Chandler hesitated, then shook his head. "No."

"What about what you just said?"

"Because then I would have been lying about you."

"But it was okay to lie about yourself to me!"

"I thought it was okay. Because it didn't matter to me."

Monica pulled her hands out of his grasp for the second time that night. "That wasn't your decision to make, Chandler! Why would you do that?"

"Because!" He said, then more softly, "because I spent two whole days between the test and the results stressing over what they were going to tell us. I couldn't sleep for two nights because I kept worrying that I was the problem, that they were going to tell us that _I _was the reason we couldn't have a child," Chandler paused for a moment, tears now welling up in his eyes. He tore his gaze away from hers, blinking furiously, not wanting to her to see him cry. He brought his gaze back when he felt her gently take one of his hands back in hers. "Then they called and they told me it was you, and you walked in and you looked so worried, and I just couldn't do that to you. You'd wanted to have a child forever, and I knew you'd blame yourself. As I said earlier, all that mattered was that _together_ we couldn't conceive. It didn't matter why, so I told you it was both of us. And I'm sorry that you don't understand, but I know how bad I felt just thinking I was the problem and I couldn't stand the thought of you feeling that way for the rest of our lives."

Monica was momentarily taken aback by what he had just said. After spending the afternoon wondering why he had lied, she had never expected this. She felt tears come again, and knew there was no way she was going to stop them this time. She dropped Chandler's hand and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. She felt his arms immediately close around her frame. He pulled her in close, his face against her shoulder. She felt his tears on her shoulder, as she pressed herself as close to him as she could. "I'm sorry I yelled at you," she finally mumbled when she felt able to talk again. She pulled back far enough to look him in the eye, leaving her arms around him. "I was mad at you, but I never expected what you just said." She paused for a moment. "Chandler, I realize why you did it, but you don't have to protect me. I'm a big girl." She smiled at him, making sure he knew she wasn't mad at him anymore.

"I know. I just hate the thought of you being in pain. And there was a way I could lessen that pain so I took it. I knew we would keep trying no matter what, so I didn't see a problem."

"Oh, Chandler." Monica swallowed hard. "How did I get so lucky?"

"What do you mean?"

Monica smiled. "How did I get so lucky to end up with a guy like you?"

Chandler smiled and leaned in to place a kiss on her cheek. He stayed silent, and Monica knew it was because he didn't know what to say. Even after all of their years together he still wasn't good at accepting compliments, but she knew he understood what she was saying. He finally met her eyes again, a serious expression on his face. "Mon, I need you to know that I never wanted to lie to you. That's the only time I've ever lied to you. I never meant for it to be a big deal. I-"

Monica shook her head and cut him off by placing a finger on his lips. "I understand. I can't say I completely like what you did, but I understand why you did it."

"So," Chandler began lightly. "Are we good?"

Monica smiled at him. "Almost, there's something else I have to tell you." She sat back, pulling him onto the couch with her, settling beside him with his arms still around her.

"Is this a good thing or a bad thing?" Chandler asked, not sure if he could take another emotional rollercoaster tonight.

Monica smiled and reached a hand up to cup his face. "Oh, its a good thing." She paused for effect, staring into his blue eyes. "I'm pregnant," she finally whispered.

Chandler felt his heart jump at her words. "What?" He asked, praying he hadn't misheard her.

Monica felt tears in her eyes for the umpteenth time that night. "I'm pregnant," she repeated, this time a little louder.

Chandler felt his emotions bubbling up to the surface again, but made no move to wipe his eyes. "Really?" He asked softly.

Monica nodded. "Really. When the doctor told me I was shocked. I didn't think this was ever going to happen for us. But it is, it really is." Her face was now wet as the tears in her eyes were beginning to reach her chin, but she didn't care. She felt her husband's arms tighten around her before he leaned in and captured her lips with his own. The sheer emotion in the kiss was enough to bring a whole new batch of tears to her eyes. When Chandler pulled away he didn't move much, simply leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes.

"I can't believe this is happening," he whispered.

"I can't either, but it is. We're going to be parents again."

Chandler smiled at this. "Jack and Erika are going to be big brothers and sisters."

Monica nodded against him. "They'll love having a little brother or sister."

Chandler placed a quick kiss on her lips before pulling away, still holding her tightly. As Monica stared into his eyes she realized she had never seen them quick so blue before. "Do you know how far along you are?" Chandler asked.

"Uh, the doctor thought I was about six or seven weeks. They need to do an ultrasound to make sure. She offered to do one today, but I couldn't do it without you. Not after all this time. I knew you'd want to be there. So I have an appointment for to on Thursday."

"I'll be there," Chandler said. "Thanks for waiting for me."

Monica smiled. "It wouldn't have been right without you."

Chandler simply pulled his wife into a hug, trying to pull her as close as possible. "I love you," he whispered into her hair.

"I love you, too," she responded, not making any move to pull away.

The couple remained like this for several moments before Chandler felt Monica yawn against his chest. He pulled back and planted a kiss of her forehead. "Why don't I get you to bed? I mean you are sleeping for two now."

Monica laughed. "I think the expression is 'eating for two.'"

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he said standing up, and offering a hand to her, which she gladly took. Neither of them made any move to let go as they made their way up the stairs.

AN: So that's all for now. I haven't decided whether or not to keep it as a stand-alone. Let me know if I should continue.


End file.
